Finding a mentor is something that I’ve been putting off for years at this point, but I finally worked up the courage to pursue this endeavour. I gave myself every excuse in the book… I could learn on the job, I already know what I’m doing, people don’t want to things for free anymore, etc. However, I came to the realization that even though “managing up” is important, it’s not going to cut it for me if I want to succeed in the field of content marketing.
Where did my urgency come from?
I’ve been working in the tech space for just over four years, and made the shift to marketing in at the beginning of 2019. Since then, I’ve moved through several different marketing roles and in all this time, I’ve never rolled up to someone that focused on content marketing. I knew that going into it, but I convinced myself that other parts of the opportunity were going to be enough for me to ignore that very obvious gap. Fast forward three-ish years, and I’ve come to the realization that I need more than what I can teach myself.
How did I go about choosing my mentor?
I took a step back and looked at my network. I considered things like: who I had already rapport with, who was doing similar things that I liked to do outside of work, who is in a role that I can see myself in, previous experience, etc. I asked a couple of folks, but landed on another young woman who is also at a startup in a director-level role (something I see for myself), who also does podcasting outside of work, is in a similar age group, and that I already have good rapport with. We had our first meeting last week, and it was great to lay the foundation for what’s to come. I also really liked the fact that she’s also trying to level up and find a mentor of her own; I called it “trickle down mentorship.” 😂
How will our interactions look
At the outset, I proposed a monthly video call that we’ll use to discuss ideas, plans, problems we’ve faced in the field, potential solutions, etc. Although I was the one that put myself out there in hopes of learning from her, I think that these chats will provide us both with a learning opportunity and an unbiased third party who can empathize with our potential frustrations while helping us to find a solution or come to a conclusion.
Long story short…
I’m really looking forward to building on this relationship and what we’ll both get out of it. I think that having a mentor is great for personal and professional development, but it also has to be something that you’re ready to commit and receive. Like most things, you’ll only get out of it what you put into it. I’m happy to have reached this point in my personal and professional journey.
Khadijah Plummer Consulting 